Beavers given a late scare in FA Trophy tie (From Kingston Guardian)

Beavers given a late scare in FA Trophy tie

12:13pm Monday 23rd November 2009

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Hampton and Richmond Borough FC 3 Concord Rangers FC 2

By scoring two goals in the remarkable closing stage of an otherwise balanced FA Trophy third qualifying round tie, Ryman League Division One North side Concord Rangers did not grant the Beavers an easy win.

During rapid opening minutes, Hampton's back four (Fernandes, Jeffery, Wells and Tanner) stood their ground and made it clear to the visitors that they would be a hard nut to crack.

The first Hampton chance came after seven minutes, when Craig Dundas - already confirmed as the deserved recipient of the October player-of-the-month award - made an uninterrupted run towards goal but narrowly missed the target.

Ashley Smith, in particular, spiced up the midfield during the opening stages by providing width on the right wing and supplying the Hampton forwards with decent passes.

The opposition pressure increased after about 15 minutes when they had two corner kicks in succession.

Dundas and Hodges respectively cleared the situation by heading the ball away.

Hampton's midfield benefited from Collier's accurate passes to Lake, who regularly fed the strikers with ammunition.

After 26 minutes Hampton's best chance until then occurred when Dundas, following Collier's long pass, send the ball flying only centimetres above the cross bar.

The visitors quickly followed suit with their most promising chance so far, but Matt Lovett skilfully saved Ross Wall's short distance shot.

Hampton once again switched quickly from defence to attack, with Collier storming towards the goal, provoking keeper Dale Brightly to come out of his goal way too far.

Collier didn't take any prisoners and the ball ended up in the completely unguarded goal.

This was a deserved first goal for the young midfielder who has risen through the ranks at Hampton.

Rangers quickly replied with a decent chance of their own but Liam Hopkins' free-kick went past the right goal post.

After a few half-chances for both sides, the first half came to an agitated end when Taylor Sinfield got booked for a harsh tackle on Lake.

This resulted in a heated discussion on the pitch between players and the man in black who blew the half time whistle soon after to avoid further clashes.

The second half started promising for the Beavers when Jeffery headed the ball just above the goal after an early corner.

A few moments later, Lovett had another great safe when he fisted the ball away after a close range shot.

But Hampton reacted quickly to Rangers' pressure: Lake caused havoc in midfield and could only be stopped by a foul.

Smith's resulting free-kick send the ball flying just above the goal but it could have found its way easily into the back of the net if Jeffrey, who tried to get his head under it, either would have been a few inches taller or had more hair.

Rangers managed to penetrate Hampton's penalty area more and more often but were denied by Tanner, who often interrupted their momentum.

Collier also continued with his solid performance by regularly supplying Hodges and Dundas.

Alert to the guest's forays into the danger zone, the latter often dropped back to put additional pressure on Rangers' midfield.

After 69 minutes Stuart Lake heralded the obscure final stages of the match: after a great run into the box and leaving several Concorde defenders in his wake, Lake came face to face with the keeper and managed to sneak the ball past him into the net.

The offside confusion that followed could only be cleared when the referee consulted the linesman and eventually gave the goal.

Only a few minutes later, the Beavers seemed to secure a clear victory: substitute Yaku (replacing Dundas) was blatantly brought down in the penalty area and Matthews confidently converted from the spot, placing the ball in the upper right corner while the keeper went the other way.

But Rangers reacted with a good chance when Ross Wall's shot went just centimetres above the cross bar.

The visitors continued their pressure, which resulted in another extraordinary Lovett save: he fisted the ball towards the crossbar from bellow, it bounced back but somehow didn't get in and neither did the follow-up shot seconds later.

Lovett stayed the centre of attention: in the 84th minute, he saved a Rangers cross but the visiting fans in the Alan Simpson Stand had a good view on his goal and jumped up immediately.

Lovett apparently had stepped behind the goal line and his 'save' was counted as an own-goal.

After that, several Hampton players got into off-side positions in succession which left Rangers in the driving seat during the closing minutes.

In the 88th minute, Nikki Beale found himself unoccupied in front of the Hampton goal after a free kick.

The resulting goal was unnecessary from a Hampton point of view but deserved from the visitors.

They continued to push forward and Hampton supporters could only hold their breath, when Lovett was forced to jump as high as he could, stretching out his right arm to fist the ball away - a last minute save that finally cemented Hampton's narrow win.

Hampton: Lovett, Fernandes, Tanner, Jeffery, Collier, Wells, Lake, Hodges (Scarborough 89), Dundas (Yaku 73), Smith (Inman 85), Matthews.

Yellow cards: Taylor Sinfield (Concord Rangers FC)

Attendance: 264

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